UT San Antonio Launches Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) has formally launched the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyManII), a $111 million public-private partnership. Led by UTSA, the university will enter into a five-year corporative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to lead a consortium of 59 proposed member institutions in introducing a cybersecure energy-ROI that drives American manufacturers and supply chains to further adopt secure, energy-efficient approaches.

To protect American manufacturing jobs and workers, CyManII will reportedly transform U.S. advanced manufacturing and make manufacturers more energy efficient, resilient and globally competitive against our nation’s adversaries.

As a national lab partner, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will provide capabilities to advance CyManII’s goals, including digital manufacturing expertise and infrastructure at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL, DOE’s only designated user facility dedicated to improving the energy efficiency and competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers, as well as test bed capabilities at DOE’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility in Oak Ridge. ORNL also brings expertise in cyber- and cyber-physical security to CyManII, including secure communications, situational understanding, sensing, and predictive artificial intelligence to deter and defeat potential disruption to supply chains and critical infrastructure.

“Oak Ridge National Laboratory is proud to bring its world-leading Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, powered by the lab's digital manufacturing and cybersecurity expertise, to bear in protecting U.S. manufacturers,” says ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia. “By collaborating with the University of Texas at San Antonio and other CyManII partners, we will develop comprehensive measures that can be adopted across the manufacturing sector and used to train a new national cybersecurity workforce to support a secure, resilient and robust manufacturing ecosystem.” 

As part of its national strategy, CyManII will focus on three high-priority areas where collaborative research and development can help U.S. manufacturers: securing automation, securing the supply chain network, and building a national program for education and workforce development. 

“As U.S. manufacturers increasingly deploy automation tools in their daily work, those technologies must be embedded with powerful cybersecurity protections,” says Howard Grimes, CyManII chief executive officer and UTSA associate vice president and associate vice provost for Institutional Initiatives. “UTSA has assembled a team of best-in-class national laboratories, industry, nonprofit and academic organizations to cybersecure the U.S. manufacturing enterprise. Together, we will share the mission to protect the nation’s supply chain, preserve its critical infrastructure and boost its economy.”

CyManII’s research objectives will focus on understanding the evolving cybersecurity threats to greater energy efficiency in manufacturing industries, developing new cybersecurity technologies and methods, and sharing information and knowledge with the broader community of U.S. manufacturers.

“CyManII leverages the unique research capabilities of the Idaho, Oak Ridge and Sandia National Laboratories as well as critical expertise across our partner cyber manufacturing ecosystem,” says UTSA President Taylor Eighmy. “UTSA is proud and honored to partner with the DOE to advance cybersecurity in energy-efficient manufacturing for the nation.”

CyManII has 59 proposed members including three Department of Energy National Laboratories (Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories), four Manufacturing Innovation Institutes, 24 powerhouse universities, 18 industry leaders, and 10 nonprofits. 

This national network of members will drive impact across the nation and solve the biggest challenges facing cybersecurity in the U.S manufacturing industry.

CyManII is funded by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) and co-managed with the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER).

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.